So that being said I want to go in to the first story of today. So the next article we have is united joins rivals in dropping emotional support animals.

United airlines also jet blue that’s the next story on here jet blue also decides to follow suit so the DOT has some new guidelines we covered this a couple weeks ago where emotional support animals are now considered pets because that is what they are.

It’s definitely been a very long road with putting this into effect because it’s something that hasn’t been brought to immediate attention until recent years because our society is becoming more and more pet oriented. For better or for worse and because of that a lot of people, since there is no, you know training requirement, there’s behavior requirements to be a service dog but there you know are these online scams saying they certify dogs online.

People buy one of those certifications there’s no bar and you know registering a dog versus a cat, versus a beehive, which you can look it

up, people have registered beehives as service animals, and that’s how you know registrations are scams. It’s not required by the ADA right so this is all US law that we’re talking about.

It’s not required by the ADA but the animal has to be performing to standard and the only animals that can be service animals are dogs and miniature horses. The one thing I would like to see the DOT update is the miniature horse’s part because some people really need assistance but are severely allergic, deathly allergic, to dogs but a horse can fill that gap.

A miniature horse can fill that gap and while it may seem a little ridiculous those animals also have to go through training where they can’t you know, potty on the plane for eight hours if they’re going on a long flight. So I do like the direction that this is going in but as of how it stands right now only dogs are allowed on the planes. That’s not equal access to the animals that are actually trained to specifications and just act as an extension of their handler. They don’t cause issues, they’re not a problem, they’ve been trained for years in order to perform a job and a duty for this person.

So those are just some of the things that I’m popping off a little bit about right there. Definitely some improvement that can be made but thankfully they’re keeping it open for comments and revisions so it is going in the right direction which I’m really thankful for.

So United joins rivals in dropping emotional support animals. A service dog strolls through the aisles inside a united airlines plane at Newark liberty international airport in Newark new jersey while taking part in a training exercise. United announced that starting with flights in February it will no longer accept emotional support animals. It will let trained service dogs fly for free in the cabin it will let train service dogs fly for free but owners of other animals will have to pay a pet fee to put them in the cargo hold or a carrier that fits under the seat.

United airlines is joining the major US carriers and no longer allowing emotional support animals to fly for free. I think if people weren’t abusing the power there wouldn’t be an issue. There’s a lot of abuse of the system that being said you know the ADA, most the law in the past has been for emotional support animals to be allowed in housing, to be allowed in transportation, right planes, trains, automobiles. Obviously this is not the same for planes anymore. You are now considered a pet simply because so many people have been abusing the system which is very unfortunate for people who actually need an emotional support animal. It sucks. There’s no other way to put it right? Especially if your animal behaves well because other people are ruining it for you.